


Symphony of the Heart

by FreeTheSoul



Category: 999: Nine Hours Nine Persons Nine Doors - Fandom, Zero Escape (Video Games)
Genre: M/M, musician au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-15
Updated: 2014-11-15
Packaged: 2018-02-25 12:51:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2622428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FreeTheSoul/pseuds/FreeTheSoul
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>And when Junpei found himself attending every single one of Light’s concerts, he realized perhaps he was in love with more than the music.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Symphony of the Heart

**Author's Note:**

> An AU where Light is a professional harpist, and Junpei is a student and a fan of classical music who simply happened to hear about him.

 Junpei had initially heard of Light Field through some friends of his, who’d been gossiping about the new “rising star” in the classical music industry. Apparently, he was a blind harpist who wrote his own music, and his first real performance was going to be held soon. Junpei had scoffed, refusing to believe that even half of that sentence was true – probably just another hoax by someone looking for attention, considering he played the  _harp.._. Even so, Junpei still felt compelled to see him play, so he could decide for himself how much was real.

 Tickets definitely weren’t as cheap as Junpei would have liked - maybe some of the rumors  _were_ true? - but this only served to fuel his curiosity. Thankfully for him, the concert was only about a week after he’d bought the ticket.

 Going simply on his, admittedly unreliable, instinct, Junpei had arrived early, something he’d certainly be thankful for barely a half hour before the concert began. When he'd first arrived, only a few people were seated scattered around the auditorium and Junpei had immediately moved for one of the last seats in the front row, seating himself beside a rather young looking girl with garish pink hair. However, as time went by, the room went from almost empty to almost full in the span of fifteen minutes. Admittedly, this wasn't exactly anywhere even near the size of a large auditorium, but it was still impressive. In the back of his mind, Junpei couldn't help but feel relieved that he'd gotten in early enough to get a good seat, although he still held no intention of believing it could truly be that good. It was probably just hype, not to mention the staggering amount of young girls who prompted doubts of how many people were here to actually listen to the music. Subconsciously, he couldn't help but find himself eyeing the girl sitting beside him with suspicion.

 Junpei spent several minutes in silence, letting the dull chat filling the room wash over him as he re-read the program - if it were trustworthy, which Junpei kind of doubted, apparently it was true that all the music was written by him. The lights soon began to dim, the noise level in the hall diminishing with incredible speed.

 The curtains were drawn away, a spotlight illuminating the sole person standing on the stage. Of course, it was safe to assume this man was this...  _Field_  guy. Junpei squinted as he examined the remarkably young man, noting with distaste the disheveled gray hair and how the rest of his crisp, sharp suit was seemingly designed to highlight it. Even so, Junpei couldn't find it in himself to deny that he looked nice on the eyes.

 Scattered claps ran through the audience, and the man on the stage bowed respectively to them. Junpei couldn't help but grumble something bitter at the display. Neatly, he sat down on the stool set up beside the decidedly unimpressive looking, not to mention unpolished, harp, so much so that he hadn't even noticed it beforehand. It didn't really seem to carry any sort of importance, and it was painfully obvious that it wasn't even approaching expensive. Junpei could practically feel his hopes deflating, before even a single note had been struck. Maybe this really  _had_ been all hype, and Junpei couldn't help but miss the money he'd wasted on the ticket.

 Lightly, not even stirring a sound, Field brushed a hand over the harp gently, rubbing a finger against the string his hand eventually stopped at. Sighing quietly, Junpei remembered that he was, apparently, blind. This was made obvious by his softly closed eyes, however he found it odd that he hadn't even really noticed it before now.

 Silence encompassed the room as Field paused, taking a long breath. But with the first chord he struck, only one note, colour seemed to breathe itself into the room. Perhaps, Junpei should have waited for that note before making up his mind. 

 The melody was lovely, capturing, and something Junpei could only find fit to describe as refreshing. After barely even ten minutes had passed, Junpei had finally overcome his stubbornness and realized that this man had impressive talent. He'd forgotten he was even sitting in a packed auditorium, everything else washing away in his mind. 

 Unfortunately, the concert seemed to end all too soon, leaving a feeling of disappointment lingering in Junpei's stomach that it couldn't have gone on any longer. The man's hands descended slowly after he struck his final note, a tired yet pleased look on his pale face as he stood and bowed to the roar of applause and whistles. Junpei found himself standing, clapping with all his heart to the impressive performance. As he sat back down, however, he noticed that the girl who'd been beside him had disappeared, Junpei scrounging his memories before he recalled her getting up quietly practically immediately after the finale, slinking off somewhere. 

 Abandoning the thought, he turned back to the stage with the hopes of catching another look at the wonderful musician, however he was met with a wall of burgundy curtains. A pang of wistfulness ran through him as he quietly, sadly picked up his coat off his chair and made to leave the crowded hall that had erupted into conversations.

 When he got home, the whole time having thought of how wonderful the performance had been, the first thing Junpei did was throw down his coat and sit himself down at his laptop, immediately searching for when the next concert would take place. Fortunately for him, there was another performance scheduled only a couple weeks from then, however it didn't seem like it would be as dressed-up as this one was... All the same Junpei ordered his ticket, excitement filling him at the prospect of getting to experience the music once more.

 The weeks rolled by, seeming like an eternity to Junpei, before it was finally the day of the production. He'd come off work early to make sure he'd be there early, perhaps hoping to get a glimpse of him before the show began, but it was to no avail. For the second time, he was met with nothing but a curtained-off stage, and a near-empty concert hall. And, again for the second time, he was one of the first there - in fact, this time it was empty save him and the girl with the weird hair he'd sat next to last time. Quietly, Junpei moved down to the front row, this time sitting a few seats away from her. He wondered who she was, but felt it too overbearing of a question to ask.

 The room filled more slowly this time, people trickling in slowly. Although it wasn't as professional as his last performance, the crowd seemed to be acting more respectful this time. Perhaps it was the fact that less young girls had come this time, but Junpei didn't really think about it too much. 

 Again, the curtains parted gracefully to reveal Field standing still, alone save his instrument and seat, on the stage. The hair was still untidy, however he again wore a starkly contrasting suit. The large, undecorated harp was still the same as it had been before. Distractedly, Junpei wondered if this was the first harp he'd ever played. That would explain the blandness, but... Considering his overwhelming popularity, one would think he'd have abandoned it by now in lieu of something sleeker looking.

 Claps scattered around the crowd for the second time, however the biggest change this time was that Junpei now felt compelled to participate. 

 The performance this time was just as beautiful as the last one had been and, yet again, leaving Junpei feeling disappointment that it hadn't lasted any longer. As he stood to applaud, he saw something out of the corner of his eye that made him look around suddenly. As a matter of fact, it was the pink-haired girl, shuffling quietly towards one of the side stairways. He felt curiosity burning in him about where she could possibly be going but, yet again, forgot about it before he could dwell too long on the thought.

 He'd spend the next few months becoming obsessed with Light's music, going to every concert he could - even days when he had to work, he'd dash out the door immediately after his shift to drive down to wherever the performance was taking place, sometimes being forced into a bad seat if he was too late getting there. Something he'd noticed was that that girl had attended every single one of them as well, but it was the "as well" that told Junpei that he was in no position to judge her about it.

 He'd researched the roots of his music, watching shoddy phone camera videos of his early performances. Even so, he'd felt an odd urge against delving into his personal life or history, feeling it weirdly intrusive. Although, even if Junpei had particularly wanted to, there was strangely little along the lines of truly personal details about him to find online.

 One day, after one of Light's bigger performances, Junpei had stuck around in his seat after the show. Slowly, the rest of the room had eventually cleared out, leaving him alone. He'd only begun to doubt whether he should just leave when he heard a loud, overbearing voice to his side.

 "Hey, what're you still doing here? Jeez, get out. We need to clean up the hall, and it  _usually_  works better when there isn't someone sitting right in the middle of it." Junpei turned up to look at the speaker, shocked to see it was the pink-haired girl. She was staring down at him with a decidedly unimpressed expression on her face, matching her tone perfectly. "Yeah, I've been waiting to see if you'll move, but you haven't moved an inch since the show ended..."

 Junpei opened his mouth awkwardly, shut it as he tried to figure out what to say, and then repeated the process so that he began to look rather similar to a fish. "I, er, sorry, who are you?" He scrunched his brow, wondering who this girl could possibly be that she'd feel like she could bully him around.

 "That's none of your business, so can you leave now?" She raised an eyebrow and nodded her head toward the door. "Man, come on, I don’t have all day to stand around here."

 Junpei grumbled angrily, standing up as he opened his mouth to snap something livid at her, but another voice coming from behind interrupted him before he could get out so much as a single syllable.

 It was a soft, kind voice, very much in contrast to the one belonging to the girl. She and Junpei turned in unison to see the speaker, both of them suddenly looking rather awkward as they realized someone else had been standing there.

 “Clover, what’s the problem?” It was, and very much to Junpei’s surprise, Light Field. Junpei’s jaw practically dropped, gaping for a few seconds before he collected himself enough to close it. Beside him, while Junpei was figuring out how to act respectable, the girl responded.

 “Oh, uh, um, this guy over here apparently won’t leave, and he doesn’t want to tell me why not.” She huffed, crossing her arms as she mumbled something inaudible.

 Light turned to face Junpei, something which shocked him for a few moments before he realized the other man had probably heard him speaking, and pieced together his location from that. A wave of relief washed through him as he realized how lucky he was that he’d been interrupted before he started arguing with the girl, who he figured must be “Clover”.

 “Who are you?” The question was simple, and voiced so plainly that it caught Junpei by surprise. “If you’re looking for an interview, I’ll tell you now that you won’t be getting one.” Light raised an eyebrow intimidatingly.

 Heart sinking deep into his chest, Junpei realized he’d gotten off on a bad foot. “Oh- I- no, no, I’m not a reporter or anything.” He paused, a heavy silence descending upon his shoulders. “I’m, er, my name's Junpei Tenmyouji, I'm just, um, a huge f-fan of your work, and…” He felt, and no doubt looked,  _ridiculous._ He couldn't even manage to get a single comprehensive sentence out of his mouth, and his face was burning…

 Clover seemed like she was about to laugh at him, but instead turned away to Light and spoke in a sour tone. “Well… I mean, I've seen this guy at like, literally every single one of your shows, so I guess he’s definitely not lying. Even the ones where tickets practically flew out the door, he was there.” Her words surprised Junpei, her being the last person right now that he’d expect to be backing him up.

 Light stood still for a few seconds, a small pout on his face as he considered her words. “Really? Well, I suppose if Clover says so, I can believe it, especially considering how she sounds like she’d rather be throwing you outside right now instead of proving your claim.” His pout turned to a tiny, kind smile, and his words were now kinder. “Now that we’ve established that, what is it that you want?”

 Junpei suddenly realized he’d forgotten what he wanted to say. His mind was completely, entirely blank, going into autopilot.

 “I, um, I’d love to m-maybe talk about your work, so I was wondering if we could go out for coffee… or something?”

_Oh. My. God._

 He’d spoken before he could think his words through, and he instantly regretted them. He wished he could pluck them out of the air, but it was too late. Internally, Junpei felt like all his functions were collapsing. This was, without a doubt, even more embarrassing than the time he’d been in middle school and someone had pulled down his pants in front of someone he liked. In fact, he  _sounded_ like he was back in middle school around the person he liked, considering how much he was stuttering.

 Amazingly enough, Light didn’t even laugh at him. Clover did, sure, but Light tapped her gently to stop her after the first guffaw. In fact, he seemed to be seriously considering the request, something that came as a shock to both Clover  _and_ Junpei.

 “You can’t  _actually_ be considering this, right?” Clover squawked, but Light didn’t seem to pay attention.

 “Clover, what time is it right now?” This question came after a prolonged pause, Clover stuttering out the response of “around two”. He nodded, thinking again for a few moments, before shrugging and turning himself back towards Junpei.

 Junpei had watched this entire scene develop in a state of utter shock, barely even able to breath. That kind smile was back on Light's face, that  _damned_  smile, and it wasn't exactly making Junpei feel any more composed. In fact, he could practically feel his face getting redder the more he looked at it. 

 "I suppose it wouldn't hurt, and the only other thing I had this afternoon was an interview in half an hour I'd really prefer not to go to, so perhaps this would be good." Light laughed, the tired expression he seemed to always have on his face fading away. "Alright, I'll take you up on your offer, providing you  _really_ aren't just trying to trick me into an interview. I'll sue for invasion of privacy, you know." No thanks to the terrifying contrast between his heavy words and lighthearted expression, Junpei couldn't tell whether this was a joke or not and simply smiled awkwardly.

 Light continued, "Alright, Clover, well, you should probably get home before any reporters try to come after you. Take the car and bring my harp home, please - I'll call you if I need anything, alright?" Clover moved to object to his decision, but apparently decided it was pointless to argue and shut her mouth. Sighing, she hoisted her bag back up on her shoulder and left briskly through one of the exits, shooting a scowl to Junpei as she trotted off.

 Finally, Junpei managed to get a word out. "Er, Mr. Field --" Light interrupted before he could say anything else, shaking his head gently.

 "Please, just Light. I've had enough of that from the press, thank you." He sighed, Junpei pausing before nodding his head, entirely forgetting that blind people can't, as a matter of fact, see when people nod their head.

 "Okay, um, but, if your friend over there takes your car, then how will you get anywhere?" Junpei blinked, somewhat concerned about this, but was met with another laugh from Light.

 "Well, I'm assuming you got here with a car, didn't you?" He cocked an eyebrow, a smile dancing on his lips. "I'll just take that." He paused, pressing a finger to his lips. "Well, at least, I  _hope_ you have a car, otherwise we're a bit stuck..."

 Junpei waved his hands in front of his face, his voice a tad frantic. "Oh, no, don't worry, I have a car! I just... wasn't expecting this..."

 Light paused, suddenly seeming to doubt his words for the first time that afternoon. "Ah... Oh, my apologies for being so forward. I'll tell Clover that I need the car, then." His sounded incredibly sincere, a change from the lighter tone he'd been taking beforehand. This filled Junpei with guilt, not to mention the urge to interrupt as Light started to make his way back to one of the stairways, stopping him in his tracks.

 "I-I didn't mean it like that! I'm fine with it, honestly, I just didn't think you'd be so quick to trust me..." As Light turned back to him, Junpei saw that the tired look had returned to his face, alongside a curious smile.

 "I trust my sister's instincts. If  _Clover_  trusts  _you_ , practically a complete stranger, even this much, then I doubt you're anything to worry about."


End file.
